Marty Road Race

I don’t know if standing outside trying to will some heat in your fingers while pinning on your number is just part of the insanity of bike racing.

I started this time with every possible piece of warm clothing I owned (not much), went for a test ride then started to peal a few layers off until I seemed comfortable. We rolled out at a easy 8 mph. Us newbie’s have no idea what we are doing and what we are getting ourselves into but at 8 mph you can’t go wrong.

About a mile down the road on a hill with 20+ cross winds there was an attack. I stayed with the group through a few of those attacks, but the wind was a killer. The field broke quickly and into several pieces. I picked up two girls and told them the only way we were going to get through this was to work together. There were no quos—just what do we need to do. After the first turn, into head winds, we found another set of three girls. I pulled up and as a piece offering said I would work with them. I moved to the front to prove that I wasn’t a treat and pulled for a bit. We still had 2.75 loops left of that crap! Everyone was very cooperative, no one was jumpy, no one was attacking. As a group, we thought we could catch up to the five in front of us.

We made the third turn—relief!—tailwind. Leading the charge, I crested the first hill to see in the far distance “the hill”. Where in god’s holy name (yes I’m going there) did this hill come from out in the middle of flat farmland!? I saw the map before we started—yes that is about all the preparation I had for this course—and heard about some rollers, but they underestimated that statement. Thank god! In my opinion, I would rather not know (Moto: Ignorance is bliss).

Climbing to the top there were a couple of false flats. It seemed to go on like the High Bridge in St. Paul, but much steeper. I was happy with my performance on the hill, we all broke apart. I passed a couple of girls on the climb so I felt good about my current situation. We flew down the backside and took the 4th turn. This was a great stretch. New roads, winds were still pushing us. We all regrouped—except one girl who took a flyer, but we knew we would catch her in the cross winds. I chuckled to myself, you would have never thought we were in a race. There was so much chatting (and NO I wasn’t talking) you would have thought we were on a group ride not in the middle of a race.

Lap 2 was the same as lap 1. We caught up to one of the five girls in the first break away. There was an attempt to do a double rotating line to move the group faster through the headwinds, but I was surprised that only two of us knew what we were supposed to do. The group was chaotic during this point so we just went back to our original process. I’ve never had this happen to me before but a wind gust was so strong it pushed us backwards. Defiantly a moment of reality to know we are not as powerful as we think.

Lap 3 was an easy roll. The group as a whole kept it slow during the cross and head winds. The first little hill was a easy climb—then the attacks came. For the next three or four miles it was an all out sprint—thank god for tailwinds. I stayed third wheel, I figured I would get that position since the other two girls looked good the previous two laps. The entire time I was worried I would get caught—I almost did. I placed 7th out of 14. The points I was able to get pushed me up to 2nd position in the Women’s Cycling Made Real series—but holding this position probably won’t last long.

After the race, a few of us went to the bar for drinks and a recovery meal while wave 2 was on the field. Trust me—I only had water. Oh...and that high caloric food in the photo.

It was fun to chat with the ladies after the race. You feel a sense of a bond when we all suffered together for 36 miles.